QUINPRAESES

For 600 years the land of Annohai prospered quietly in peace and
tranquility. Under the leadership of the five princes and the guidance
of the five holy ones, the bounty of the land was shared by all, and the
arts reached heights unknown. As the people grew ever more content, few
cared to practice the difficult ancient disciplines, and the study of
war was kept volumes of history which languished unopened on dusty
shelves.

Then the invader came. From beyond the sky, using powers and abilities
previously unknown, they captured Sakirko, the ancient city of
governance. In a single day was that ancient city captured, and the
lands around laid waste. As the city fell, so too fell the council of
princes, and, within a week, not a single member of the ruling families
remained free.

From the renamed city of Mizo, the invaders sent forth their degrees.
From now on all of Annohai would labor as they directed. The penalty for
argument would be death, and worse would follow should any dare to
resist. To the mines and forges came instructions to increase production
without regard for the safety of the people or the land. In the forests
ancient trees were cut without regard for their beauty, while the
farmers and sea folk were forced to labor without cease to provide food
to be taken beyond the sky. Each month, every village was to provide
children to be bound to the service of the invaders, and the craftsmen
were to spend no time on art, but only on the practical matters the
invaders directed.

Then, while the people were reeling under these decrees, the invaders
gathered their force and struck against two of the holy sites.
Completely untrained in war, the holy ones were forced to flee, leaving
behind many of their servants and their stones of power. At this all the
holy ones took action, meeting and agreeing to resist the invaders
however they could, but somehow the invaders discovered their intent.
Again and again the invaders struck until only the far southeast
baronies and one of the five stones could still answer to the holy ones.

Yet as the free peoples were pushed back and their lack of training was
made clear, they still refused to lose hope. For from ancient times came
the prophecy that when the land was threatened the five guardians would
arise, and they would use the five stones to summon the five who are one
and none would stand against them.

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Under the morning sun the fields shone bright and green. While their
elders met to talk long and seriously about the latest news of the war,
a group of boys took the opportunity to sneak away and share a jug of
illicit plum wine behind one of the local haystacks. Of course, in many
ways, their conversation didn't differ too much from that of their
elders.

". . . and m'uncle said that when the ship crashed one of _our_ mages
stepped out. Imagine that! Someone's actually traveled beyond the sky
and come back!"

Fat Tosa, the blacksmith's son, lowered the jug and passed it on. "I
heerd that a couple weren't e'en human."

"That right," returned Errei, who's uncle had just returned from the
Tower of Life, "Some of 'em looks like cats stood up on their hind legs,
an' some looks e'en stranger, but the important thin' is that they
_knows_ how t' train a soldier, and they're askin' fer volunteers!"

The jug went around the circle once more as each of the four boys
considered that. They'd talked before about the army, each of them
boasting about his own skills, but never before with the particular
urgency that the latest news brought.

Then Errei spoke again. "I spoke t' m'da. When m'uncle heads south, I'm
goin' with him, and m'uncle has said there'll be plenty of room fer
anyone else who's wantin' t'enlist. So's how 'bout it?"

Small Laka was the first to respond, "Count me in, Errei, m'da's said
that I'm old enough t'make m'own choices."

Fat Tosa tipped the jug back and drained the last of the wine. "Sure
I'll go," he chuckled, "someone's got t'keep y'two outta trouble. I
think Shinmei'll join us as well, and with Natsume here, that'll make us
a _five_."

The three boys laughed, surprised that it had been that easy in the end,
not noticing that Natsume wasn't joining in.

Once the laughter died down, Natsume spoke in a small voice, "I can't
go."

"What!" "Of course you can go." "Storm! With your life skills you'll
probably end up an officer in no time." Natsume shook his head. "I've
talked to my grandfa. He . . . " Tosa interrupted, "Natsume, you're
nineteen now, y'granfa can't tell y' what t' do." Natsume nodded and
went on, "He went to the mayor, and the mayor told me that having me
help to help grow food and fiber was more important than having me in
the army."

Natsume paused and wished the jug wasn't empty. "He said that the army
was refusing to accept anyone who's loss would mean family hardship or
less metal or food, and since there's only me to help my granfa on the
farm, they'd just send me right back."

In truth Natsume had been aching to join the army since the invasion
started. It had surprized him. He'd never wished to be anything other
than a farmer, but, as much as he loved the family farm, the pull to
join the recruits heading for the Tower was sometimes painful. He'd
argued with his grandfather, but eventually had to concede. There was
already too much work for the two of them, and there was no way his
grandfather could run the farm by himself.

"That's tough Natsume, really tough." Errei said. "But hey, once the
four of us get trained, the war'll be over in no time!

Between long silences the four friends talked a little as they cleaned
things up and headed back to town. Before departing to go their separate
ways, they grasped wrists and Natsume slowly spoke the parting words,
"Skill and strength and luck be with you. I'll never forget you my
friends."

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As Natsume wove among the groups surrounding the meeting hall it seemed
that everyone was talking about Anade the baker and her daughter Ardri.
Unfortunately, while everyone was saying how bad the situation was, no
one was saying exactly what had happened.

When he met his grandfather at the agreed point for the run home, he
asked, "Grandfather, what happened with Anade and Ardri? Why's everyone
talking about them?"

"When the announcement came that volunteers were still wanted for the
army, Ardri stood up and said she'd be joining."

Natsume's reaction surprised him. He'd always liked Ardri, and they'd
even paired up a couple times for dances and the like. All he could feel
now though was sheer, overwhelming jealousy. At the moment, the fact
that _she_ could join and _he_ couldn't seemed the most unfair thing
about the entire situation.

As Natsume fought the feeling down his grandfather continued, "That sent
her mother into hysterics right there on the council floor. She's
convinced that all our soldiers will be dead soon if they aren't
already. Apparently her beliefs have less effect on her daughter than
her son."

"Errei, Tosa, and Laka will be joining up as well."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know they're your best friends. Still, with
no hands for hire, it's not you would find much chance to run into town
anyway. Especially with the pillum harvest coming up."

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The sky was just beginning to brighten when Natsume hauled the piping
equipment up to the blooming jabra field. The previous day's check had
shown a portion of the field to be too dry, and it needed to be fixed if
they weren't to lose part of the crop. "Not that anyone's going to be
purchasing a luxury like jabra with the war going on." Natsume mused to
himself. "Still, that's not the jabra's fault."

The problem turned out to be a simple clog, but as Natsume got out the
tools to clear it, there was a flash of light on the horizon, followed
by a wave of . . . something. Looking towards the flash, Natsume saw two
plumes of red smoke, quickly joined by a third and then a fourth. //Four
red plumes!// he thought. //That means: disaster, everyone to assist!//

Quickly, Natsume detached the trailer from the hauler. Getting on the
hauler he realized he'd finally find out how fast it could go without a
load behind it.

The sun was high when Natsume finally reached the battlefield. Stopping
at the top of a hill he overlooked the scene below. A huge fleet of
sailing ships was jammed into a bay, each ship in turn unloading troops
onto the beach. The small force designated to guard the coast, even
supported by people from the nearby village, was encircled and obviously
about to be overrun. Four ships, shaped like snails, floated in the sky
overhead.

Though unsure what help he could be, Natsume couldn't stand back and do
nothing. Gunning the hauler, he headed toward where the force encircling
the border guards seemed thinnest.

Leaping free at the last minute, he rolled as the hauler crashed into
the invading army, leaving groaning bodies in its wake. Reacting
automatically, he rolled through one group of invaders, and then used
his momentum to grab a single invader and fling him into another group,
knocking them down in the process. From there it was blur of leaps,
tumbles, kicks, and strikes. Somewhere along way he picked up a
No-Dachi, as well as two bullet grazes and a painful cut.

Eventually he stood with the troops of the border guard. "What's your
name son?" A stocky old soldier with a scraggly beard yelled at him.

"Natsume." He yelled back.

"I wish you weren't here, but DAMN it was fine seeing you come! I ain't
ever seen anything like the way you moved. Still, stick close now,
you'll need to work with the rest of us if we're going to get out of
this."

Looking around, Natsume noticed that the invaders had drawn back.
"What's going on!"

"Over there," the old soldier replied, nodding off to the left. "It just
flew down."

Looking to his left, Natsume saw a broad, round-sided ship. with ramps
coming off each side. Soldiers poured down the ramps, and attempted to
form up as the forces that had been dealing with the border guard
adjusted to meet this new threat.

The soldier spat. "They ain't gonna be quick enough."

Natsume followed his gaze and saw two of the invader's flying vessels
moving toward the grounded vessel as the soldier continued, "They should
have landed in the forest, that way . . ."

Then he stopped as yet another flying vessel stooped from the sky like a
hunting hawk. Firing guns as it came, it ended its dive by ramming one
of the invader's vessels, which fell from the sky and shattered on the
ground.

Through the cheers, Natsume heard, "Natsume! Eyes FRONT boy! That's the
signal for us to advance."

Natsume couldn't tell what signal that was, but the old soldier didn't
seem to have any doubts.

The rest of the day was a confusing mass of "Head that way. No! Head
_that_ way." and minor skirmishes which didn't seem to accomplish
anything.

A few things did stick in Natsume's mind. Shortly after a break where
the soldiers shared out some stale bread and sour cheese, a miniature
sun appeared overhead and started raining fire down on the invaders.
From the tired comments around him, Natsume guessed that the holy one of
fire had arrived and was taking part in the battle. Later he learned the
priestesses of forest and sea had arrived at around the same time, but
their disciplines were not as obvious to those on the field.

Much later, he realized that he hadn't seen _any_ ships in the sky for
quite some time. Asking, he learned that the three friendly ships had
managed to take out all four of the enemy ships, but had been too badly
damaged to fly in the process.

The sun was low in the west when the word came down to form up for the
final push. Dirty and aching all over, Natsume stood in front the battle
line with the old soldier beside him. His sword felt like an iron bar,
but it looked like most of the invaders were even more tired than he
was. With a tired growl, the two battle lines met, and suddenly, Natsume
realized that the old soldier wasn't on his right yelling instructions
any more.

Without guidance, Natsume couldn't keep up with the battle and found
himself left behind with the injured. Lowering his sword, it was all he
could do to keep from dropping with exhaustion. Still, he remembered his
grandfather's favorite saying, "There's time enough to rest when the
work's done." Disciplining himself, he pushed the exhaustion back, and
looked for what needed to be done now.

"Where are you hurt soldier?"

Natsume looked at the woman talking to him, wondering how she'd gotten
so close. "What?"

She grabbed his chin and looked in his eyes. "Let's see you walk."

Taking a few steps, Natsume realized that the woman was a healer of some
sort.

"You aren't too badly hurt. Probably just exhaustion, but head for the
hospital and have them check you out."

"Uh. . ."

"The hospital's on the hill with the red pennon. Remember, the Red
Pennon."

"Red pennon. Yes. ... Ma'am?"

The woman was turning away from him, but turned back at his question,
"Yes?"

"Have you seen a soldier? He looks, well . . ." As Natsume tried to
describe the man he'd fought beside all day, he realized how little he
actually knew about the man.

"A couple of men carried a man like that from the field not too long
ago. You should find him at the hospital."

Then, before Natsume could thank her, she was away, rushing for a group
moving away from the battle.

As Natsume headed for the hospital, he breathed deeply, attempting to
use discipline to cleanse the aches from his muscles and push exhaustion
aside. Though only partially successful, he was feeling much better when
he saw a pair of stretcher bearers rolling the old soldier onto a clean
blanket.

Approaching the stretcher bearers, Natsume realized he'd arrived at the
hospital. "So what do I do now?"

The stretcher bearers looked at him. "Well, what are you here for."

"A woman told me to head for the hospital and get checked out."

"Oh. Well, you just wait right here, someone will be along shortly."

Nodding politely, the two picked up the stretcher and headed back
towards the battle.

Taking a seat on the ground, Natsume looked at the old soldier. Except
where he was covered with blood, he was extremely pale. Still, he
remembered the neighbor who'd been stabbed straight through the belly
with a pitchfork, and he'd been all right in the end.

Concentrating on the old soldier, Natsume didn't notice the shadow that
fell on him, but he did notice the harsh voice. "Friend of yours son?"

Looking up, Natsume started. There was a giant cat looking down at him!
Then he relaxed. This must be one of the friendly folk from beyond the
sky. None of the stories mentioned they were nine feet tall! "Uh. Yes. I
guess so."

"Well, let's see what we can do for him." Moving the bandages aside the
giant cat felt around the wound with sensitive fingers, and then sat
back. "I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do. I'm afraid his time has
come."

"But I've seen worse injuries healed."

"And I've healed worse. Unfortunately, none of us healers have the
strength or equipment to deal with a wound like this. I'm sorry. Let's
have a look at you now."

"I'm fine." Natsume said sullenly.

"I'll be the judge of that."

After checking Natsume over the cat agreed. "You'll be fine. Be sure to
take a bath tonight and scrub those wounds with soap. If you want to
stay with your friend until the end, go ahead. It may do him some good."

Feeling completely helpless, Natsume sat beside the old soldier. Around
him he could hear the groans of the wounded and the reassurances of the
healers. From comments around him, he knew that the casualties here had
been fairly light compared to prior battles. He couldn't imagine what
those battles must have been like. Eventually he got up and lent a hand,
fetching and carrying, but always stopping back to look at the old
soldier as his breathing got slower and slower, until it finally
stopped.

As the soldier's body lay cooling Natsume considered. He couldn't do
much, but he could assure the old man proper last rites. When he finally
called the morticians over he made sure they knew the location of his
family's farm. Regardless of what else happened, the old soldier would
lie in a place of respect with Natsume's ancestors.

Having scrubbed himself clean and donned fresh clothing donated by the
local village, Natsume emerged from the bath someone had set up in a
natural cistern. Looking at the position of the sun, he tried to decide
whether to head back to the farm or stay the night here. 

As he stood in thought a voice spoke from his left. "Excuse me. Are you
the young man who drove his hauler into the invaders when they had the
border guard surrounded?" 

Looking that way, Natsume came alert when he realized that one of the
army leaders was addressing him. "Yes sir. I did that." 

The man smiled at him. "I want to thank you for what you did. The people
under my command who are still alive owe it to you." 

Natsume was embarrased, it didn't seem like he'd actually done much of
anything. 

"If you are up to it, I'd like for you to dine with me and the rest of
the leadership tonight." 

Unable to refuse, Natsume followed the officer to a large tent set up as
a dining hall.

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